College and Research Libraries


Review Articles 

Case Studies 

The Book Collection: Policy Case Studies in 
Public and Academic Libraries. B y K e n -
n e t h R . Shaffer. H a m d e n , C o n n . : Shoe 
S t r i n g Press, 1961. 147p. $4.75. 

M o s t readers will recognize this v o l u m e as 
the third in a p r o j e c t e d four-volume series 
o f case studies in the g e n e r a l field o f library 
a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , e m a n a t i n g from S i m m o n s 
College School of L i b r a r y Service, w r i t t e n by 
its director, and presumably in use by its 
faculty. I t would be i n t e r e s t i n g a n d useful 
to have a m o n o g r a p h describing the use of 
these volumes o f case studies in some detail, 
as well as an evaluation o f the t e c h n i q u e by 
students a n d faculty, b u t that, hopefully, is 
a n o t h e r book, to be reviewed at some o t h e r 
time. 

Still, l a c k i n g such e v a l u a t i o n , a n d l a c k i n g 
any personal e x p e r i e n c e with t h e m e t h o d or 
with these cases, the most o n e can say is that 
they are interesting. T h i s is n o t m e a n t to 
d a m n with f a i n t praise, because they are 
interesting, a n d this i n s t r u c t o r in b o o k selec-
tion is p l a n n i n g to use them at the n e x t op-
portunity, though p r o b a b l y n o t in the man-
n e r suggested by the a u t h o r . M o s t o f the 
suggestions for use, u n f o r t u n a t e l y , are con-
t a i n e d n o t in this v o l u m e b u t in the prefa-
tory m a t e r i a l in the o t h e r two volumes, par-
ticularly in the first, Twenty-five Short Cases 
in Library Personnel Administration, pub-
lished in 1959. 

Briefly, the i n t e n t is that the student use 
the case as a s p r i n g b o a r d for considerable re-
search for factual i n f o r m a t i o n in library a n d 
o t h e r l i t e r a t u r e which m i g h t c o n t r i b u t e to a 
r e a s o n a b l e a n d w o r k a b l e solution to b e pre-
sented a n d argued orally in class. T h e pres-
e n t a t i o n would n o r m a l l y be followed by class 
p a r t i c i p a t i o n so led o r directed by the in-
structor as not to b e c o m e " o n l y an undisci-
p l i n e d vehicle for discussion." I n some 
instances two students might develop solu-
tions to the same case, a n d so make the 
point, if t h e i r solutions were not identical, 
that any o n e case does not necessarily have 

o n l y o n e solution. A n e x a m p l e o f this is pro-
vided in the present volume, in that two 
representative solutions to a p a r t i c u l a r case 
are given in the a p p e n d i x . W h i l e b o t h solu-
tions seem a d e q u a t e enough a n d illustrate 
the different directions in which two stu-
dents might go in pursuit o f the same hare, 
it is perhaps o n l y i n e v i t a b l e that they should 
agree that the h a r e must be caught r a t h e r 
than let go. A f t e r all, we must still be f o r 
m o t h e r h o o d , against sin, against censorship, 
a n d for providing m a t e r i a l on all sides o f the 
q u e s t i o n . 

T h e twenty-seven cases cover a wide va-
riety o f p r o b l e m s i n v o l v i n g the acquisition 
o f the b o o k c o l l e c t i o n r a t h e r than its main-
t e n a n c e , evaluation, o r disposal (the twenty-
sixth case occurs in the a p p e n d i x , a n d the 
twenty-seventh is f o u n d in v o l u m e two, 
Twenty-five Cases in Executive-Trustee Re-
lationships in Public Libraries, published in 
1960). Seven o f the twenty-seven, in a very 
rough t a b u l a t i o n , are c o n c e r n e d with various 
aspects o f faculty p a r t i c i p a t i o n in the selec-
t i o n process in the college library; six con-
sider aspects o f censorship, mostly in the 
p u b l i c library; f o u r have to do with problems 
i n v o l v i n g gift m a t e r i a l ; a n d three with the 
m e d d l i n g o f l i b r a r y trustees in b o o k selec-
tion. O t h e r p r o b l e m s touched u p o n in at 
least o n e case are those c o n c e r n i n g photo-
g r a p h i c copy, c o m m e r c i a l r e n t a l libraries, li-
brary c o o p e r a t i o n , personal ethics, a n d dealer 
selection o f library materials. All o f these are 
i m p o r t a n t areas a n d seem real e n o u g h as 
examples of the kinds o f cases l i b r a r i a n s are 
apt to c o n f r o n t in the course o f t h e i r daily 
activity. I n d e e d , the a u t h o r says in his pref-
ace that these cases all stem from one, o r us-
ually m o r e than one, actual prototype situa-
tions. P r e s e n t i n g them to library school stu-
dents in this fashion, with the i n t e n t that 
they work out solutions for oral o r written 
p r e s e n t a t i o n , which can then b e discussed 
a n d evaluated by t h e i r i n s t r u c t o r or t h e i r 
colleagues, o r both, would seem to be a par-
ticularly e x c i t i n g way to be t e a c h i n g the 
u n d e r l y i n g principles u p o n which good and 
w o r k a b l e j u d g m e n t s are made. W e are look-
ing forward to trying it. 

3 4 8 C O L L E G E A N D R E S E A R C H L I B R A R I E S 



F o r those not so f o r t u n a t e as to be in a 
teaching situation, the cases make good, in-
tellectually s t i m u l a t i n g fireside reading, par-
ticularly a m o n g a small group o f colleagues, 
for good conversation on how we would 
h a n d l e that p a r t i c u l a r p r o b l e m . Or, as would 
p r o b a b l y o f t e n be the case, how we did 
h a n d l e that p r o b l e m — a n d what we f o u n d 
o u t l a t e r was wrong with that s o l u t i o n . — 
LeRoy Charles Merrit, University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley. 

Library History 
An American Library History Reader; Con-

tributions to Library Literature. Selected 
by J o h n D a v i d Marshall. H a m d e n , Con-
n e c t i c u t : Shoe S t r i n g Press, 1961. 4 6 4 p . 
$9.00. 

I f the rate of p u b l i c a t i o n is any bell-
wether, interest in A m e r i c a n library history 
is increasing. W i t h i n the past year have ap-
peared two m o n o g r a p h s on the history of 
library education, a biography o f a p u b l i c 
l i b r a r i a n , a n d two collections o f readings. 
(Sarah K. V a n n ' s Training for Librarian-

ship before 1923; Education for Librarian-
ship Prior to the Publication of Williamson's 
Report on Training for Library Service, Carl 
M i l t o n W h i t e ' s The Origins of the American 
Library School, M a r t h a Boaz's Fervent and 
Full of Gifts; the Life of Althea Warren, 
T h e l m a E a t o n ' s Contributions to American 
Library History, and the book u n d e r review.) 
F o r an area in which few people have here-
tofore shown much interest, these publica-
tions are a g e n u i n e act o f f a i t h . 

J o h n David Marshall, acquisitions l i b r a r i a n 
at the University of G e o r g i a , has edited a 
c o l l e c t i o n of papers read b e f o r e the Amer-
ican L i b r a r y History R o u n d T a b l e , plus 
various o t h e r articles especially a p p e a l i n g to 
him, because " I t h i n k they m e r i t the preser-
vation a b o o k — a n d only a book—can give 
t h e m . " O f the papers included in this v o l u m e 
all e x c e p t three were read before the r o u n d 
t a b l e a n d all e x c e p t one have been published 
previously in a variety of library periodicals. 

Marshall's anthology is divided i n t o f o u r 
sections. T h e two i n t r o d u c t o r y essays are 
" T h e I m p o r t a n c e of L i b r a r y H i s t o r y , " by 
L o u i s Shores, a f o u n d e r of the r o u n d table, 
and " L o n g L i f e to the L i b r a r y History R o u n d 

T a b l e , " by Stanley Pargellis, read before the 
first a n d second meetings of the organization. 
P a r t two c o n t a i n s eleven " h i s t o r i c a l essays" 
of varying length and depth o f t r e a t m e n t , 
i n c l u d i n g personal reminiscences as well as 
as d o c u m e n t e d historical papers. Marshall's 
definition of " h i s t o r i c a l " is fairly broad; 
some of the essays are merely records. Bio-
graphical essays, some twenty-one in all, com-
prise the third section, many of them personal 
reminiscences of the " g r e a t l i b r a r i a n s " by 
those who knew them. P a r t f o u r is a reprint-
ing of the short and sometimes i n a d e q u a t e 
sketches o f the forty l i b r a r i a n s chosen for "A 
L i b r a r y H a l l of F a m e " in c o n n e c t i o n with 
the seventy-fifth anniversary c e l e b r a t i o n of 
the A L A . 

As would n a t u r a l l y be true of any collec-
tion of papers read before an i n f o r m a l 
organization such as the A L H R T , the essays 
in this anthology are uneven in quality. 
T h e y range from the e x c e l l e n t a n d thorough 
esays of Edwin W o l f I I , " F r a n k l i n and His 
Friends Choose T h e i r B o o k s , " and Clifford 
K. Shipton's, " J o h n L a n g d o n Sibley, L i b r a r -
i a n , " to L a w r e n c e Clark Powell's account of 
the p u r l o i n i n g of the Bay Psalm Book at 
U C L A , " S t o p T h i e f . " W h a t p a r t i c u l a r con-
t r i b u t i o n the l a t t e r article makes to Ameri-
can library history would be difficult to 
discover, b u t it was read b e f o r e the A L H R T 
in J u n e 1953. 

I f criticism can be made (and it c a n ) that 
first-rate historical essays in this anthology 
are rare, it should also be stated that some 
of the reminiscences, the stuff from which 
history may l a t e r be written, are superb. T h e 
reviewer was particularly impressed with the 
two papers of M a r i a n C. M a n l e y , " P e r s o n a l -
ities B e h i n d the D e v e l o p m e n t of P A I S " and 
" A Worm's-Eye View of L i b r a r y L e a d e r s . " 
Some of the reminiscences reveal the authors' 
keen insight and achieve a discriminating 
b a l a n c e between tribute a n d fact. Particu-
larly useful are the sketches of less well-
known l i b r a r i a n s such as E l e c t r a Collins 
D o r e n , F r a n k Avery H u t c h i n s , and Mary 
Frances Isom. O n a par with the W o l f a n d 
S h i p t o n essays are P e t e r T h o m a s C o n m y ' s on 
James L o u i s Gillis and David M e a r n s ' on 
H e r b e r t P u t n a m . O n the o t h e r h a n d some 
reminiscences of m a j o r figures are poorer 
than they ought to be, a n d I cite only the 
generalizations of Carl Vitz on W i l l i a m H . 
B r e t t as an e x a m p l e . 

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